Cousins cook for Karonga hospital patients as festive cheer

Two cousins have set example to the country that even the littlest of resources can positively impact on other people’s lives after they literally cooked and fed over two hundred fifty patients at Karonga District Hospital last Friday – on Christmas Day.

The cousins, Lusekelo Mwenifumbo, 23, and Chikwanda Mwenifumbo, 24, have since challenged Malawians that it is “actually possible to feed patients in the country’s public hospitals without necessarily relying on government’s subversions.”

They told Nyasa Times after the exercise that with the little money from their savings, and contributions from seven other friends they were able to raise over K200 000 within a week.

“Initially we’d thought of organizing some gifts for children in the pediatric ward but when we assessed the condition of the rest of the other patients we thought of reaching out to them too,” said Lusekelo who has just graduated from the Madiba School of Flight of Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

She added: “We never thought our little savings would eventually impact so significantly. Instead of the fifty children we’d planned to reach out to we ended reaching out to over two hundred fifty patients plus several members of the staff.”

According to Lusekelo, the meal they prepared comprised rice, minced beef, soya pieces and cabbage. They also gave out a number of presents to children.

“It was so exciting to see how happy the patients were after they received the food. I felt bad when I was leaving knowing they would face a similar problem the following day,” she said.

Apparently, Nyasa Times has learnt, the hospital stopped giving out meals to patients – an argument the hospital’s management premise on “drastic cuts of government funding.”

Lusekelo’s cousin, Chikwanda – a quantity surveyor – challenged people in the country to consider doing similar exercises for the country’s public hospitals.

“What happened with our little savings is a manifestation that it is possible for us to feed people in our district hospitals. Imagine if people came up and started contributing towards hospitals in their areas. We think a lot more would be raised for support,” said Chikwanda.

She said the exercise had kindled a desire in them to consider doing more of similar projects in the country.

“We’re not promising anything as of yet. But my cousin and I have that feeling that we need to do more of these activities,” she said.

Karonga District Medical Officer Dr Timothy Bandawe hailed the girls for their initiative saying they had been able to raise the spirits of patients high.

He admitted the stoppage of provision of meals at the hospital due “to poor funding.”

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!